iPhone "5" Width

[Bigsk8r]

Hi Everyone, I'm a long time reader, sometime commenter, and first time thread starter. So in some ways I am still a noob... go easy on me!

What I'd like to ask / discuss is the upcoming iPhone's width. It has been fairly concisely documented that the unit will get longer and thinner, but I keep seeing photos that conflict with reports that the phone will not change in width, like this one:

https://www.macrumors.com/2012/08/08/apples-new-dock-connector-even-smaller-than-originally-thought/

So, what is the deal? I think that making the phone thinner without making it wider will - without a major technology breakthrough - result in horrible battery life. My reasoning here is that even though the camera is being re-positioned, and the SIM card and connector will be smaller, they still have to add LTE. The battery needs to get 20% larger, and they *might* have been able to get 5% more based on what I can find.

Please share your thoughts... Thanks!

 

[daveishere]

I think the new iPhone will have the same width as the existing iPhones.

Its been pretty widely rumoured that they're using a new display technology that mades the display quite a bit thinner than the ones in the 4/4S.

With the advent of this and the smaller dock connector and smaller sim card & tray, i'm sure they can fit the bigger battery in without making the physical unit wider.

Plus, I think it would leave a bad impression is the pixel width of the device was the same but the device was actually wider, not something Apple does.

Just my thoughts of course!

 

[mjpearce023]

There was a lot of discussion about that picture and some people are saying it’s just the angle of the picture that makes the 5 look wider. There is quite a bit of discussion and photoshops in the discussion on that article. I think you should count on it being the same width and then if it is wider on Sept 12 then you can celebrate. If not you will probably just end up being disappointed. Right now my biggest concern is the battery as I think I will be happy with a 4 inch display. Of course I would prefer 4.3 but I just don't think it’s going to happen for a couple more years.

 

[SR45]

Photo you have shown is wrong OP. It was shown just a few days ago. iPhone is reported by most all rumors to be longer (Taller) and same width....The report never hints of a wider iPhone, just talks about the connector. If it were wider, it would be all over the internet.


This is the correct one.

 

[Bigsk8r]

Losing thickness without gaining width will not allow them to improve the battery life as the internal volume is getting smaller despite the length increase.

If they were to add 1 mm of width to each side of the bezel, once you put a bumper or a case on, you would hardly notice. That would be well worth it if it meant 10% more battery life.

 

[Bigsk8r]

Photo you have shown is wrong OP. It was shown just a few days ago. iPhone is reported by most all rumors to be longer (Taller) and same width....The report never hints of a wider iPhone, just talks about the connector. If it were wider, it would be all over the internet.

This is the correct one.

Thank you for the feedback, but I think you missed the point. I have seen various photos - yours included - that show different widths of the phone relative to the "known" iPhone 4. All the articles say that the width will not change, but various photos show various widths.

They could certainly be illusions, fakes, or even photoshops. I'm not judging that, simply bringing up the width vs battery life discussion point.

The meat of it is this:

If the phone has all current services, adds LTE, and has smaller or equal internal volume left, how are we going to be able to use this phone for more than 3 or 4 hours at a time? If the article below is accurate, then there is only 2.8% more battery...

https://www.macrumors.com/2012/08/10/next-generation-iphone-battery-only-marginally-higher-capacity/

... I'm just not sure that's going to cut it with bluetooth, location services and LTE all running.

Thanks again for the reply...

 

[MLG]

I was wondering about that, too, but I think it's just forced perspective. It sure looks wider, though.

A couple of interesting observations on those pics, though.

- One, the beveled edge on that phone is already chipped and dinged. If that's really the iPhone, it was a bad idea to leave such a thin, delicate edge exposed like that. They are going to need a cover or that will get beat up in a hurry.

-Two, the Apple logo and iPhone lettering on the back appear to be some sort of sticker. That looks pretty hokey and makes it seem fake. I can't imagine Apple using a sticker for that, because it wouldn't last.

- Three, the headphone is purposely placed in one pic right over the regulatory info...clearly not an accident. What are they covering up?

I know its not likely given all that we have seen, but I would really laugh if the just turned out to be a new Sophone or other Chinese knockoff.

 

[nuckinfutz]

Why does the battery life have to increase by 20%

 

[Bigsk8r]

Why does the battery life have to increase by 20%

Sorry... that part was worded badly.

It seems like to improve on the known 4S battery life issues AND accommodate LTE without shutting every other service off, the battery will need to have 10 - 20% more capacity. That's just my opinion based on what I have seen and read so far.

Personally, I would have preferred it get 1 - 2 mm thicker along with the length. Yes, it would gain a couple of ounces, but it would have a lot more battery and maybe even better heat dissipation properties.

 

[nuckinfutz]

Sorry... that part was worded badly.

It seems like to improve on the known 4S battery life issues AND accommodate LTE without shutting every other service off, the battery will need to have 10 - 20% more capacity. That's just my opinion based on what I have seen and read so far.

Personally, I would have preferred it get 1 - 2 mm thicker along with the length. Yes, it would gain a couple of ounces, but it would have a lot more battery and maybe even better heat dissipation properties.

Agreed on the battery. I'm curious to see how much more efficient the SoC, Baseband & Broadband parts are. If the battery is not getting larger in mAh then i've only but to assume that Apple is confident that power savings in multiple other areas will deliver the results they want.

 

[chleuasme]

This is the correct one.

----------

simply bringing up the width vs battery life discussion point.

The meat of it is this:

If the phone has all current services, adds LTE, and has smaller or equal internal volume left, how are we going to be able to use this phone for more than 3 or 4 hours at a time? If the article below is accurate, then there is only 2.8% more battery...

With the new retina iPad, only .6 mm thicker (marginal), Apple managed to mainly maintain the same battery life though power consumption is more important essentially because of the new screen. This new iPad use new batteries, heavier, denser, I don't know.
I bet the next iPhone won't see any substantial drop in battery life. Not a point I would worry about. That's one constraint they surely care about when conceiving a new iPhone.

 

[Bigsk8r]

Image

----------


With the new retina iPad, only .6 mm thicker (marginal), Apple managed to mainly maintain the same battery life though power consumption is more important essentially because of the new screen. This new iPad use new batteries, heavier, denser, I don't know.
I bet the next iPhone won't see any substantial drop in battery life. Not a point I would worry about. That's one constraint they surely care about when conceiving a new iPhone.

Let's hope you are right! What concerns me though is that I - and everyone i know with an iPhone - use that device far more than any other. Even the iPad doesn't get used on an minute to minute basis as much as the phone.

It needs to last all day on a charge, and it doesn't most days....

 

[emma777]

Headphone jack on the bottom makes sense, using the current models with the headphones plugged in causes the wire to either fall over the screen and you have to keep adjusting to go behind the phone, it also puts unnecessary strain on the wire where it joins with the actual jack.

 

[sentinelsx]

There are tons of wider options available on market today. Not everyone wants a wider device. Buy one of those if you really want that.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

Interesting. According to this video that takes detailed measurements of the front panels (starting at 1:20), the width of the new iPhone's screen is wider than the 4S consistent with the above image.

 

[anonymouslurker]

I really don't think anyone other than Apple is in a position right now to say how much bigger the new battery needs to be, to maintain comparable life.

Everybody keeps saying "they're adding this, they're adding that, they need more battery"... but the truth is, no one knows any details about how much of the circuitry is changing, how the bill of materials is changing, how much effort has been put into iOS 6 to optimize power consumption, etc.

It's very possible that with all these other changes, the same capacity battery could actually yield more life!

Let's just wait and see.

 

[Indy21]

I really don't think anyone other than Apple is in a position right now to say how much bigger the new battery needs to be, to maintain comparable life.

Everybody keeps saying "they're adding this, they're adding that, they need more battery"... but the truth is, no one knows any details about how much of the circuitry is changing, how the bill of materials is changing, how much effort has been put into iOS 6 to optimize power consumption, etc.

It's very possible that with all these other changes, the same capacity battery could actually yield more life!

Let's just wait and see.

Agreed.

 

[Bigsk8r]

I really don't think anyone other than Apple is in a position right now to say how much bigger the new battery needs to be, to maintain comparable life.

Everybody keeps saying "they're adding this, they're adding that, they need more battery"... but the truth is, no one knows any details about how much of the circuitry is changing, how the bill of materials is changing, how much effort has been put into iOS 6 to optimize power consumption, etc.

It's very possible that with all these other changes, the same capacity battery could actually yield more life!

Let's just wait and see.

Here is what I know:

The battery *might* have 3% more capacity than the 4s battery, and that isn't exactly a positive. If the electronics do not get 7 - 12% more efficient, most users will not see a life increase with the usual services active.

I am an admitted Apple Fanboy, but I have also been in the battery business 8 years, and RF & Microwave for 15 years. The laws of physics, power, and RF propagation do not change because there is an Apple logo on the product.

If the new leaked battery is correct, it will take a major redesign of the logic board to accommodate all the services with equal or increased battery life. That is why i am hoping it's for a different product and that the phone will be slightly wider.

 

[bandofbrothers]

Interesting debate guys.

Certainly interesting times ahead !

 

[allonym]

Interesting. According to this video that takes detailed measurements of the front panels (starting at 1:20), the width of the new iPhone's screen is wider than the 4S consistent with the above image.

He measures the width of both at two inches.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

He measures the width of both at two inches.

Not exactly two inches though. Unless the American education system has failed me, 2.058 (for the new iPhone) is larger than 2.044 (for the 4S).

 

[Nebrie]

Don't forget that the next iPhone is supposed to feature an IGZO display. This is where the extra battery margin is going to come from.

http://www.semiconportal.com/en/archive/news/main-news/120420-sharp-igzo-tech.html

"Sharp estimates that the approximately 1600mW power consumption of a current tablet panel can be cut to below 1/3 or less than 500mW"

 

[vivek88]

iPhone is extremely thin (only 11.6 millimeters thick) but wider and longer than many comparable devices.

 

[willmtaylor]

So, what is the deal? I think that making the phone thinner without making it wider will - without a major technology breakthrough - result in horrible battery life. My reasoning here is that even though the camera is being re-positioned, and the SIM card and connector will be smaller, they still have to add LTE. The battery needs to get 20% larger, and they *might* have been able to get 5% more based on what I can find.

I think that this is a faulty assumption. If there's one mistake that most people make on these forums, it's judging not-yet-released Apple products by last years parts and tech. Apple almost always comes out with new proprietary parts and configurations inside their devices to make them faster and smaller.

The best/most recent example of this is the battery from the iPad 2 and the new iPad. Almost identical form factor and battery life, yet the iPad 2 has a 25 watt-hour battery while the new iPad has a 42.5 watt-hour battery.

I can definitely see the same thing being done with the new iPhone; we'll see!

 

[Sedrick]

Not exactly two inches though. Unless the American education system has failed me, 2.058 (for the new iPhone) is larger than 2.044 (for the 4S).

That's about 1/64th inch difference. Not a measurement that's going to make any difference to anyone without a digital caliper.